Saudi Arabia Faces Increasing Criticism over Yemen

SHAFAQNA – Most Arab and Western mass media are preoccupied by the crisis in Yemen, notably because of the accelerating events and the deterioration of humanitarian situation, along with the increased suffering of the Yemeni residents resulted from the aerial bombardment carried out by the ten-state coalition.

The US The New York Times daily stated in a report posted Thursday that the Saudis are facing increased international criticism over its blockage on Yemen, in addition to its air strikes which have killed scores of civilians so far.

Moreover, the US Washington Post newspaper stated that there is no waging solution for the Saudi war on Yemen due to the Riyadh-led military campaign in spite of the latest truce agreement that have been reached.

The daily also ruled out any diplomatic solution particularly since the Arab Kingdom — and after two months of the relentless strikes — is no closer to any achievement that can be based upon to start the political negotiations.

“The devastating Yemen actually suffers from deepened divisions, amid the climbing death toll and the increasing number of refugees who fled the instability and the Saudi-led air strikes, especially after the destruction of the infrastructure and many of the hospitals and schools adjacent to the homes of citizens,” the Washington Post report read.

The newspaper emphasized that the Saudi Arabia did not achieve its military goals of the war on Yemen, however, in order to understand the logic behind this intervention, the Kingdom’s procedures must be considered in a broader context to shed the light upon its local and regional objectives.

“From this perspective, it is clear that the military incursion in Yemen was launched because of the Saudi interests, which are away from the results that have been achieved so far,” it added.

The writer indicated that the Houthis are not Iranian puppets as claimed by the Arab and Gulf states which got involved in the Yemeni crisis, stressing that such states have clear goals behind this rumor, fearing of the increased Iranian influence in the region.

Washington Post sources indicated that the “Decisive Storm” initiated by Saudi Arabia on 26 March, followed by another war named “Restoring Hope,” have had two declared goals which are supporting what it called “the legitimate government” headed by Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and confronting the Houthis. Yet, there are two other objectives that are the real motives behind the war on Yemen, namely, the internal and foreign policy pursued by Riyadh since the Arab uprisings and the events of the so-called Arab Spring, which broke out in 2011, where Saudi Arabia would like to crush opposition movements in the Middle East, especially those that it considers a threat to its stability.

Moreover, the Huffington Post newspaper cited in its report three real motives of Saudi Arabia in Yemen, which have been mentioned openly by the Saudis themselves: Restoring the rule of President Hadi, crushing the Houthi movement, and reducing the Iranian influence in the country.

After a month and a half of air strikes, the newspaper commented that the Saudi Arabia has not been able to restore Hadi’s government or to beat the Houthis.

Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-US coalition. Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.

Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.

On April 21, Saudi Arabia declared the end of the aggression, dubbed “Decisive Strom,” and the start of another campaign called “Restoring Hope.” The Saudi-led warplanes are still conducting airstrikes on several areas across Yemen.